Pom Poko Theme

[Yu-Baaba]

First of all, I LOVE the Pom Poko ending theme, "Itsu demo Dare ka ga."
It’s such a cute song, and the end of Pom Poko always makes me cry, so I’m usually crying when I hear that song (even though it’s such a happy sounding song).

When I watched the film the Darjeeling Limited (a great film, btw) the ending theme song instantly reminded me of the Pom Poko song – all the way up to the catchy chorus that’s repeated over and over at the end of the song! The main difference – the Darjeeling song was in French!

My first thought, was that it was the same song translated in another language. However, upon researching I discovered the song is called “Champs-Elysées.” And they don’t appear to have any connection other than a very similar tune, composition, and “sing-a-long” refrain.

Anyway, I’m posting this thread mostly to rant about my confusion over this matter, but also to put this out there to see if anyone else can hear this similarity or even by chance has some explanation for it. I encourage you guys to try and listen to each song if you can and let me know what you think!

Here are both songs’ information and lyrics:

"Aux Champs Elysées" - Joe Dassin Je m'baladais sur l'avenue le coeur ouvert à l'inconnu J'avais envie de dire bonjour à n'importe qui N'importe qui et ce fut toi, je t'ai dit n'importe quoi Il suffisait de te parler, pour t'apprivoiser Aux Champs-Elysées, aux Champs-Elysées Au soleil, sous la pluie, à midi ou à minuit Il y a tout ce que vous voulez aux Champs-Elysées Tu m'as dit "J'ai rendez-vous dans un sous-sol avec des fous Qui vivent la guitare à la main, du soir au matin" Alors je t'ai accompagnée, on a chanté, on a dansé Et l'on n'a même pas pensé à s'embrasser Hier soir deux inconnus et ce matin sur l'avenue Deux amoureux tout étourdis par la longue nuit Et de l'Étoile à la Concorde, un orchestre à mille cordes Tous les oiseaux du point du jour chantent l'amour Translation to English: I strolled on the avenue, open to everything I wanted to say hello to anyone No matter who - and it was you, I said anything to you It was enough to speak to you, to calm down. On the Champs-Elysées, on the Champs-Elysées With the sun, under rain, at midday or midnight There is everything you want on the Champs-Elysées You told me "I’ve got an appointment in a basement with the nutjobs" Who live with guitar in hand, from evening to morning Then I accompanied you, we sang, we danced And we didn’t think of kissing On the Champs-Elysées, on the Champs-Elysées With the sun, under rain, at midday or midnight There is everything you want on the Champs-Elysées Yesterday night, two strangers and this morning we’re on the avenue Two lovers dazed by the long night And the star at the place de Concorde, an orchestra of a thousand chords All the morning birds sing the love On the Champs-Elysées, on the Champs-Elysées With the sun, under rain, at midday or midnight There is everything you want on the Champs-Elysées

"Itsu Demo Dare Ka Ga" - Shang Shang Typhoon Pom Poko Ending theme Itsudemo dare ka ga kitto soba ni iru Omoidashite okure suteki na sono na o Kokoro ga fusai de nani mo mienai yoru Kitto kitto dare ka ga itsumo soba ni iru Umareta machi o tooku hanarete mo Wasurenai de okure ano machi no kaze o Itsudemo dare ka ga kitto soba ni iru Sou sa kitto omae ga itsumo soba ni iru Ame no furu asa itta idou suru Yume kara sametara yappari hitori kai Itsudemo omae ga kitto soba ni iru Omoidashite okure suteki na sono na o Arasoi ni kizutsuite hikari ga mienai nara Mimi o sumashite kure uta ga kikoeru yo Namida mo itami mo itsu ka kiete yuku Sou sa kitto omae no hohoemi ga hoshii Kaze no fuku yoru dare ka ni aitai Yume ni mita no sa omae ni aitai Itsudemo omae ga kitto soba ni iru Omoidashite okure suteki na sono na o (Instrumental) Itsudemo omae ga kitto soba ni iru Omoidashite okure suteki na sono na o (Repeat 7 more times) *Couldn’t find an English translation